rescue911fandomcom-20200213-history
911 Gunshop
Location: Fresno, California Date: January 17, 1989 Story On the outskirts of Fresno, California, it was closing time at Bill's Bait and Tackle Shop in the early evening of January 17, 1989. Owner Bill Heasley was removing handguns from the glass display cases for overnight storage in the safe when an armed, masked gunman entered the small shop and began shooting wildly at him. He was struck by several bullets and collapsed on the floor. A second masked gunman entered the shop, then both men began firing at the display cases, shattering them into thousands of fragments. The men grabbed over a dozen guns and fled. Bill dragged himself to the phone and dialed 911. "I've been shot," he said. "This is Bill Heasley." He told Fresno County Dispatcher Diane Vargas that he'd been shot five or six times in the stomach and legs by a robber. He thought his kidneys were bleeding. "Take it easy, okay?" said Vargas. "I'm not going to make it," Bill told her. "Yes, you are." But in her heart, Vargas didn't believe her own words. "Mr. Heasley was not going to make it," she recalls. "I was talking to a dead man." Sergeant Jeff Johnson and paramedic Lori Stephens and her partner, EMT Stephen Braun, responded to the scene as dispatcher Dan Lynch took over Bill's call. Lynch could hear his breathing growing deeper and faster--a sign that Bill was going into shock. "I'm starting to feel cold," said Bill. "Listen, I don't know if I'm going to make it." "Yes, you will," Lynch replied. "Listen," Bill said, gasping for air, "Tell my wife that I love her. Tell my boys that I love them, too...and to be good." The words hit Lynch hard because he knew Bill was on his way out. "It's like, I'm the last voice between their father and the family," recalls the dispatcher. Stephens and Braun were first on the scene, but they could only sit and wait in the ambulance, as they had been trained to, for Sergeant Johnson to arrive and secure the shop. He arrived moments later, and he was shocked at the sight of the tiny store, which looked like a war zone. Although Bill was still alive, Sergeant Johnson knew he was dying. In fact, when he called Stephens and Braun inside, the first thing he did was radio the homicide team. The medics immediately loaded Bill into the ambulance and rushed him to Valley Medical Center. En route, he gave Stephens his phone number and repeated the request he'd made to Lynch--to call his wife, Jill, and tell her that he loved her and the boys. Bill was admitted to the hospital in dire straits, having lost more than one-quarter of his blood. As he was rushed into surgery, Stephens kept her promise and called Jill. "That phone call was awful," recalls Stephens. "I was so scared. I had no idea what to say." Stephens told Jill that Bill was at the hospital. "Did he have a car accident?" "No," replied Stephens. "Then, was he shot?" "Bill wants me to tell you he loves you. And the kids, too." Jill says she's relieved many times in her mind what it must have been like for Bill to lay wounded in his store, knowing he was dying. "When Bill said in the 911 call that he loved me," says Jill, "it meant more to me than anything he's ever given to me." Incredibly, Bill pulled through the surgery to repair his gunshot wounds, the most critical of which was from a bullet that entered his stomach and penetrated his kidney and liver. Today, Bill has completely recovered, although five bullets remain in his body. Both he and his family truly appreciate his remarkable survival. "Bill's my world," says Jill. "I love him very much. He's made my life very happy." "I think what kept him alive," says one of Bill's young sons, "was his will to live and his will to see us grow up. I really love my dad a whole lot." The suspects involved in the shooting were arrested within one week and were subsequently convicted and sentenced to prison. Category:1989 Category:California Category:Robberies Category:Gunshot Wounds Category:Shootings